1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a rear-view unit that has a fastener for fastening on a vehicle and at least one opening for receiving a reflecting element or a camera, wherein the rear-view unit contains an airbag device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Exterior mirrors in vehicles underlie the regulations according to ECE R46. These safety regulations require that vehicle exterior mirrors can be removed towards and away from the direction of travel, if they are struck with a defined force.
Exterior mirrors that have a gap of only 15 cm of gap from the body of the vehicle do not have to be molded so that they can be removed. In the instance when a camera replaces an exterior mirror, such fixed installations are advised.
Avoidance of the exterior mirror protects the weaker participants in traffic, and in most cases is sufficient to reduce injuries. What the exterior mirror is not designed for is a side impact or an impact at a very acute angle perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the exterior mirror.
In the solutions established for the camera rear-view system, a protection of the pedestrian is only possible via impact protection.
And active pedestrian protection is more and more important, vehicles have to follow the requirements. The rules of the Euro-NCAP program assign ratings to vehicles with particularly distinctive protection for pedestrians. All the same, until now not very much has been implemented in serial production.
The present invention is concerned with active protection of road users by the use of an airbag device for protecting pedestrians, which is located on the inside of an exterior mirror of a vehicle and contains an airbag that can be inflated with a filling gas in order to cover the perimeter of the exterior mirror.
Airbag devices for protecting pedestrians are known, e.g. from DE 102008011468. The airbag device contains airbags folded together, which are accommodated on the right and left side of a cover for covering the front faces of front pillars of a vehicle upon deployment.
In vehicles, available airbag modules are mostly arranged behind inner covering parts, such as e.g. a dashboard or pillar covering. In order to ensure emergence of the airbag in case of use, outlet openings are integrated in the inner cover parts. These are mostly specified in the form of cover caps that can be available in various lot sizes depending on the airbag.
A flat material of the inner covering part that is conventionally used is constructed out of the following layers: on the outside, direction vehicle interior, as a covering layer a slush making up the visible surface, lying underneath that a foam and a supporting layer as a supporting structure, giving form to and stabilising the flat material. The cover caps required for the outlet opening to be formed in case of use of the airbag are specified by a weakness in the support structure and foam incorporated into the rear side of the inner cover parts.
By activation of the airbag, the cover caps are opened at pre-defined cap axes and release an outlet opening for the airbag, so that an unhindered unfolding of the airbag is guaranteed. The cap axes necessary for a controlled opening of the cover caps are provided by the weaknesses incorporated into the support structure and the foam. In a system with several cover caps, an expected break line is incorporated into the flat material in a system with several cover caps, in order to be able also to guarantee a controlled, defined and reproducible opening of the cover cap. The supporting structure and the foam is likewise weakened along the expected break line.
The forces arising upon activation of the airbag, which simultaneously trigger the opening of the cover cap, can lead to dislodging of individual pieces of the support structure and/or the foam. These can be thrown in the direction of the vehicle interior with the inflating airbag, respectively in the direction of the vehicle passengers. This event represents a potential danger for the vehicle passengers.
In order to avoid this, fabric layers are incorporated into the slush in the areas of the cover caps, as is known (WO 99/61288).
An airbag device in an exterior mirror is known from JP 2009023600. The airbag emerges on an expected break edge in the covering of the mirror head. The airbag thereby unfolds along the A column and the front screen, bonnet of the vehicle.
The rear-view unit according to the invention has an area that possesses expected break lines such as are known from the vehicle interior, along which the rear-view unit cuts and the airbag emerges. The expected break line thereby extends in the space of the exterior mirror or the camera housing, or along an indicator module.
In contrast to the prior art, the danger of pieces forced off is less when the airbag is in the exterior mirror. Nevertheless, the invention tries to avoid having pieces of the exterior mirror flying around.
The airbag for the exterior mirror or camera is advantageously constructed in such a way that it completely clads the mirror, and not only towards one side, when an airbag emerges.
The advantage of the protection of pedestrians and weaker road users is clearly recognized.